Benjamin Dieter Salfield (born 11 December 1971) is an English

lutenist A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" commonly r ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

ist,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, promoter and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Early life

Ben Salfield was born in Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire, UK. His father, a German Jewish refugee, was children's

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

Dr. Derek "Dieter" Salfield (1915-2006). Salfield's family settled in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, UK, when he was 9 years old, and he has lived there ever since. He began playing lute at 13 with Ian Thomson at

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

Guitar Studios. When his teacher moved away, he was mainly self-taught. His concert début was in December 1988, and shortly after he performed for the Lute Society at the Artworkers Guild, Queens Square, London. His first international recital was at the

Meschede Meschede () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis. Education One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (also: Fachhoc ...

Abteikonzerte, Cologne, Germany, in 1993, and his first full international tour – in the Czech Republic – took place three years later.

Lutenist

Salfield has performed as a soloist, as an

accompanist Accompaniment is the part (music), musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmony (music), harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in di ...

, and in ensemble with Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In August 2015 he gave four concert performances in the UK with his new duo partnership featuring Italian classical guitarist Andrea Dieci, and that November appeared in a series of concerts with him in Poland. BMG Magazine described the duo as "two of the world's finest musicians in their respective fields". Ben Salfield has been a Hannabach Strings artist since 2015.

Music Editions

In 2013, following his first music edition with Poland's 'Modran', Ben Salfield began producing editions of lute music for the English publishers, Peacock Press; he later signed a deal with Denmark's 'Bergmann Edition', for whom he now produces music for lute but with transcriptions for classical guitar.

Additional Information

In January 2020, he began writing as a "political commentator and antisemitism campaigner" for The Times of Israel. In November 2020, the Conservative Party announced that Salfield would stand as a

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group (sociology), group or election to an offic ...

in the 2021 local elections in the

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( ), known between 1889 and 2009 as Cornwall County Council (), is the local authority which governs the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in South West England. Since 2009 it has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary ...

ward of Lanner, Stithians & Gwennap, in which he failed to beat the incumbent. In May 2022, Ben Salfield was elected Chairman of the Camborne Branch Conservatives.

References

External links

Ben Salfield's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salfield, Ben 1971 births Baroque musicians English lutenists English people of German-Jewish descent Jewish classical musicians Living people category:Lutenists Musicians from Cornwall Musicians from Staffordshire People from Barton-under-Needwood